So, I was talking to my grandpa the other day, and he asked me how I felt about Santa-more specifically, as Christians, should we encourage or promote the belief in Santa Clause since Santa tends to overshadow the celebration of Jesus' birth?
My response was this: can we find Christ-like themes in Santa Clause? Yes- Santa loves all people, yet is just. Santa promotes giving, (not spending) and is a bringer of joy. The actual "Saint Nick" brought hope to the poor as he would throw bags of money through windows. Why can't we show Santa some love, while continuing to emphasize the person of Jesus and the importance of his coming?
We could use the metaphor of Santa as an instructional tool for our children (not that I have any of my own). I.E. Just as we look forward to the coming of Santa, and watch for his arrival on Christmas Eve, Israel was waiting and watching for their savior. Just as Santa brings gifts that we did not earn, The Christ would bring grace that we did not deserve.
Do we need to through the Santa out with the bathwater?
My response was this: can we find Christ-like themes in Santa Clause? Yes- Santa loves all people, yet is just. Santa promotes giving, (not spending) and is a bringer of joy. The actual "Saint Nick" brought hope to the poor as he would throw bags of money through windows. Why can't we show Santa some love, while continuing to emphasize the person of Jesus and the importance of his coming?
We could use the metaphor of Santa as an instructional tool for our children (not that I have any of my own). I.E. Just as we look forward to the coming of Santa, and watch for his arrival on Christmas Eve, Israel was waiting and watching for their savior. Just as Santa brings gifts that we did not earn, The Christ would bring grace that we did not deserve.
Do we need to through the Santa out with the bathwater?
5 comments:
or maybe santa is the root of all teenage rebellion. It seems like it is a harmless lie, but then when it is exposed, children realize their parents can lie to them and then the child rebels.
thank you david crowder for my logic.
I don't think it's worth it to lie to your kids like that. I grew up without believing in Santa. My parents just told me he was fake, and I believed them. It doesn't give me any less appreciation for Saint Nick, I still like Santa movies, and I think he's a really sweet icon for christmastime. I even have a hat. While your argument is fine and all, I don't quite get what you're insinuating. Are you saying we should tell our kids that Santa's real? Or is it that we just shouldn't block him out of Christmas completely. Because that's my opinion.
I'm not trying to say that you should lie to your kids. What I'm saying is that as Christians we don't have to leave Santa out of our Christmas celebration. The emphasis should be on Christ, but the ideals of "Santa" can be used as positive teaching tools.
1) santa is a blatant lie.
2) we say things like, "you must be a good boy so that you are not on the naughtly list." if we use santa as a metaphor are we not suggesting that one has to earn the gift because "you better not pout, you better not cry, you better watch out, i'm telling you why... he knows if you've been bad or good so..."
3) i don't tell my kid that the polar express is going to be going by our house tonight so why should i tell them that santa is coming, becasue it's cuturally acceptable?
I think Santa can be a good thing too, especially if you use the historical saint and don't use the Santa the generations of popular culture have created. The saint did not make lists of naughty and nice. I like the metaphor that you used Justin. As for Santa being the root of all teenage rebellion I'm pretty skeptical about that. I'm pretty sure I would have rebelled anyway. My parents told me there was a Santa Clause and when I found out there wasn't I was bummed out for a little while but I didn't go off the deep end because they "lied" to me.
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